Jack and Diane

The grossly mis-marketed "Young Love Thriller" "Jack & Diane" was described as a lesbian love story with a werewolf twist. In actuality, it’s a lesbian love story with an obvious monster analogy thrown in to physically illustrate the internal effects of young love. The problem is, the structure of this conceit doesn’t work, and by the end of the film you have no idea what you just watched.

At its core, this is a summer love story between two disaffected youth. Juno Temple is Diane, a sweet but seemingly off girl from London living with her aunt in New York City. Stumbling through the streets (we never know why) she runs into tomboy Jack (Riley Keough.) The two fall for each other instantly, even though they have barely spoken a word. This nonspeaking, sometimes loving, mostly angry tale plays out over the summer with monster hallucinations spread throughout to head-scratching effect. What might have sounded profound on paper is just a mess on screen.

Special features include a 10-minute documentary on the making of the creature that’s way more fascinating than the movie itself. However, despite all the care that went into developing the thing, we barely see the detail in the film so all that effort seems for naught. The other featurette is about the film itself and its overarching theme. If you hadn’t gotten it already.